The NEJM study puts countries like ours in a bit of a spot. In India, as in several other countries, families of Covid-19 patients have been asked to take hydroxychloroquine as a preventive drug. The ICMR last month extended the use of this drug as prophylaxis after it found through observational studies that the drug did not have much side effect.

The pharmacovigilance programme also monitored the use of HCQ for highrisk healthcare workers in the counrty Prophylaxis refers to treatment given to prevent a disease. YK Gupta, who is also a member of ICMR, said HCQ, an anti-malarial drug, had even less toxicity than chloroquine.

At a press conference in the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: "On the basis of the available mortality data, the members of the committee recommended that there are no reasons to modify the trial protocol.

A recent case-controlled study by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has underlined the benefit of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) as prophylaxis, showing that the sustained use of the anti-malaria drug along with the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) was associated with a significant decline in risk of Covid-19 infection rate by upto 80% among the health care workers.

Clarifying that the anti-malarial medicine can be continued as preventive treatment against Covid-19 in high-risk people, ICMR director general Balram Bhargava said studies show the drug is safe and effective after considering the balance of risks and benefits.

As was mentioned in the earlier advisory, the drug against the infection is also recommended for all asymptomatic healthcare workers involved in containment and treatment of Covid-19 and household contacts of laboratory confirmed cases.

Treatment for Covid-19 with the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine, either with or without the antibiotic azithromycin, offers no benefit for Covid-19 patients, according to a large observational study.​​ The research, published in the journal The Lancet, analysed data from nearly 15,000 patients with Covid-19 who received chloroquine or its analogue hydroxychloroquine, taken with or without the antibiotics.

Responding to question on hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine being used to treat COVID-19 patients in certain countries, Dr Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, told a press conference on Wednesday that, despite that both drugs are already licensed for many diseases, at this stage, they "have been as yet found to be effective in the treatment of COVID-19 or in the prophylaxis against coming down with the disease", Xinhua reported.

In the revised treatment protocol expected to be released soon, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is likely to include HIV combination drugs, and FDA-approved Ivermectin along with supplements of zinc and Vitamin C to improve immunity and possibly reduce viral replication, they said.

When the blood reaches these curves, it makes changes to its fluid mechanics and interactions with the vessel wall. In a healthy person, these changes are in harmony with the tortuous microenvironment, but when diseased, these environments could lead to very complex flow conditions that activate proteins and cells that eventually lead to blood clots.